With two monsoon classics under his belt, Daniel David-trained Steal The Glory was expected to win the Octagonal Cup at the Calcutta racecourse last Sunday … but the manner in which he accomplished his task was truly awe-inspiring.

The colt by Conquering Hero out of Winter Dreams was conceding quite a chunk of weight to his nearest rival Afforce and the latter was expected to put up a fight. But the moment Imran Chisty released the brakes on this prize property of MAM Ramaswamy, it was all over, bar the shouting. The 'Glory' devoured ground in the straight to collar the runaway Afforce at the distance post and make it a one-horse affair thereafter.

This superb performance ought to sound a warning to other stables who can now use the David Ward as a yardstick for their runners.

Racegoers returned home happy, as five first favourites were first past the winning post.

An eleventh-hour 'permission to ride' granted by BTC to jockey Christopher Alford was largely responsible for the punters' joy. Alford landed the spoils astride Robin Corner-trained Monticello, and Megillah and Sephora from Bath's yard.

Megillah's odds expanded to a lucrative 5/2 in the Myall King Handicap, thanks to some unexpected support for Vijay Singh-trained Highly Fashionable. Megillah had lost a hard-fought race to Romantic Quest last time out and was expected to go one better here.

After an initial skirmish for the lead, Sweet Success settled down at the helm of affairs and brought the field into the straight. However, at the distance post, he was easily collared by the eventual winner.

In contrast, the sprinter Sephora had to be pushed to bag the Kaizen Handicap, the day's final event. Javed Khan trained Entrepreneur had stolen a march over his rivals while Sephora and Cupid's Glory followed the front-runner almost together. The last named found the pace a little too scorching and retired from the fray after the bend. That left the coast clear for Sephora and the new import from Pune did not disappoint. This run is certain to bring on Cupid's Glory who appeared a tad sluggish this day.

Trainer Richard Alford was an elated man after leap-year jockey Brij Shaw brought home the bacon with Thousand Stars. Despite a crushing impost, the six-year-old gelding shot into a 10-length lead and gradually veered out to the outer rails. He nevertheless won as he liked.

"I have just acquired this horse from Shafiq Khan's stable. I just told the rider to take him to the front and am pleasantly surprised to see him win," Alford said.